“Have you seen the new Beyoncé videos?”

“Carolyn, there’s a concert about to start! Turn off your cell phone!”

Before the show started, senior Micah Katz-Zeiger and music teacher Carolyn Castellano reminded the nearly-full audience to turn off their cell phones and enjoy the Winter Concert on Thursday, December 19 in the Robert Dubbs auditorium.

A group of all-black clad students filed on the stage, and sang three songs– a Russian folk song called V Syrom Boru Tropina, an Italian piece called Amor Vittorioso, and a Frankie Lymon and Morris Levy song called Why Do Fools Fall in Love?– conducted by chorus teacher Michael Driscoll.

At first, concert choir seemed stiff; there was not a lot of soul going into the performance. But, during the last song Why Do Fools Fall in Love, Driscoll decided to incorporate snapping into the performance, bringing much more energy to the stage, and the audience felt it as well; a more comfortable and relaxed atmosphere entered the room.

Concert choir then shuffled off the stage, feeling good about a solid performance, and the lights came on so that the orchestra could set up the stage for their performance. They entered the stage with chairs and music stands and tuned their instruments.

Wearing black with red ties, bowties and one Santa Claus hat, the violins, violas, cellos, and three basses started playing Holberg Suite, op. 40, a somber tune, which then turned more lighthearted, and led into their last song Como Llora una Estrella, in which the three bass players captivated the audience with the unique plucking sound.

Minutes later, A Capella choir came on, singing three lovely songs: Yellow Submarine by the Beatles, Yellow by Coldplay, and I Can See Clearly by Johnny Nash.

Yellow Submarine was definitely a crowd favorite, especially when the choir began bobbing up and down during the chorus. Throughout the audience there was laughing, cheering and applause. There was laughing on stage, as well. It was apparent that the group had a fun time singing the song.

Yellow was just as interesting and dynamic as the previous song. A great song in itself, the choir took hold of the meaning of the song, and expressed the appropriate emotions. Two wonderful soloists– sophomores Olivia Mosquera and Talia Roland-Kalb– especially gave off the tone and the mood of the song. A few tears even escaped in the audience when Roland-Kalb sang the line “for you I’d bleed myself dry.”

The last song in A Cappella choir was the well-known I Can See Clearly Now. Starting off the song was smiling sophomore Arthur Chen, with a smooth and clean singing voice, inspiring happiness to all who heard his solo. Singing with him was sophomore Giovanna Tarantino, who had another clean voice, with a nice soprano tone. The combination of Chen and Tarantino’s voices sounded spectacular, and this song was another crowd favorite.

Gracefully entering the stage were saxophones, basses, a guitar or two, trumpets, drums, a violin, a piano, a triangle and jingle bells. The notes of the well-known holiday carol Let it Snow started, and the holiday spirit filled the room. Korey Caron’s red trumpet involuntarily added a touch more of holiday character. Saxophone solos incited cheers and applause, the jingle bells were fun, and Castellano ran around the stage playing various instruments.

Following the Christmas carol was a Peruvian Tune, and then Earth, Wind & Fire’s Getaway. In the Peruvian piece, senior Simon Printz played the xylophone. The xylophone was subtle and gorgeous, and an excellent addition to the jazz band as a whole. Sophomore Hal Triedman played the piano in the two latter songs and showed great skill at the instrument.

Overall, jazz band was one of the most energetic and spirited performances. The variety of instruments coming together to create a happy, fun, and jazzy sound is astonishing, and the crowd loved it.

Another group with an astonishingly good sound was camerata, who came on stage clad in long black skirts and suits and tidy red ties or scarves. Camerata is a choir with an audition process, and they are always amazing, with the help of conductor Driscoll. For this concert, they prepared and sang four songs: Daniel, Daniel, Servant of the Lord (which they repeated after Driscoll said, “we can do better”), Bogoroditse Devo (Hail Mary) from All-Night Vigil, op. 37, Do Nothin’ Til You Hear from Me, and finally Shchedryk (Carol of the Bells), all of which were dynamic, clean, and incredible.

In Daniel, Daniel, Servant of the Lord, solos by junior Dawaun Hardy and senior Matthew Guzman charmed the crowd, as did senior Joseph Schiarizzi’s scatting in the energetic and crowd-pleasing Do Nothin’ Til You Hear from Me, which was accompanied by senior Fred Metzger on the bass and junior Akane Wakai on the piano.  Finally, Shchedryk (Carol of the Bells) was a very pure, magnificent tone with a great melody, great harmonies, and great dynamics.

Once all three choirs sung, they joined together on stage to sing Betelehemu (Bethlehem), a Nigerian Carol. This was, by far, the best performance of the night. It was interesting and dynamic, and very spiritual and cool. Junior Noah VanderWerf, senior Samuel Friedman, and Castellano played tambourines and drums to accent the song, while groups of soloists did the same thing. Towards the end of the song, the performers added in hand movements that caused a huge stir in the audience. Everything about this song pleased listeners, and it was a great pleasure and honor to watch.

After a short intermission, concert band performed, and the huge ensemble wonderfully executed a Sinatra medley consisting of Come Fly with Me, Witchcraft, That’s Life, and Fly Me to the Moon, an English folk song called Greensleeves, and Ain’t No Mountain High Enough. There were lots of instruments, including trumpets, trombones, flutes, clarinets, and various others. Senior Zak Russell had a very cool trombone solo during the Sinatra medley.

Concert band was an excellent ending to an excellent winter concert. The choirs, orchestra, and bands pleased the viewers and surely the performers were pleased with themselves.

Lily Böhlke can be contacted at [email protected]